Never Gonna Change
by Phenax
Summary: He thought they would be forever, but nothing was the same anymore. Fang/OC. Mylan.
1. 00: Deep Down

"But we're still tugging on each other  
And tearing up the fraying loose ends."—_Never Gonna Change_, the Broods

* * *

Fang sat on the couch, his fingers tangled in his deep black hair while the breath in his lungs seemed to nearly solidify. Chill bumps covered his olive skin, adding to the emptiness inside of him.

No, this wasn't the right thing to do. How could he even think that? The two of them had been beyond the ends of the worlds and back, and they had gone through things no one else in their life could truly say they had lived through.

Yet here he was, doubting everything he thought he once knew.

He swallowed hard, and tears brimmed on the edge of his onyx eyes. That wasn't like him, in any way, but it was all he could find himself able to do. Who was there to talk to about this?

Iggy couldn't see yet, though it was a working process. After saving the world from Itex's By-Half Plan, the Flock settled with Dr. Martinez, and the wonderful woman worked together with a doctor friend of hers to fix his eyesight. So far so good, but he couldn't see the tears in Fang's eyes.

He didn't have to see them, though. All those years being the blind guy, Iggy's senses had developed further, so much further he had developed a sixth one—sensing the mood of the person next to him.

"You really should talk to her."

"How can I?" Fang tried to shake the thought out of his mind, but it had been there since he first thought about it. Hearing Iggy tell him the same thing didn't really help him make it go away either.

"With words."

Fang rolled his eyes while Iggy nearly cracked a smile; man, did he love teasing Fang. It never really seemed to push Fang's buttons, until it was the wrong time to say something. Like then, when Fang just needed comfort and a friend to help him sort out his thoughts.

Fang wasn't a man of many words, but that's what he had to do. Come up with many words to express everything churning in his stomach, everything tugging at his heart . . . he had to talk to her.

Who knows? Maybe he was just overreacting. I mean, maybe she was having a bad month, or maybe she was just bored. It had been almost a year since they settled down, and since the two of them opted out of school, Max never had anything to do anymore.

Iggy immediately sensed the teasing timing was off and switched into serious mode—something he had only ever done for Fang or Max. When they couldn't talk to each other, they talked to him. There were times Fang talked to him and Max, but Iggy didn't mind being the second option. Sometimes, he didn't really wanna know everything.

Iggy reached over and lightly punched Fang's arm. "Seriously, dude. You gotta talk to her. That's all there is to it. Just pour your heart out for once."

Of course Fang knew how to do that, but the idea of it made him cringe. Right now . . . pouring his heart out wasn't necessarily what was best. He didn't even think about things to himself because of how scared he was of the outcome.

But deep down, he knew. Things had changed. They had both just changed.

"How do you know when it's over?"

It wasn't necessarily something Fang meant to ask aloud, but he had, and there was no taking it back—especially since he asked _Iggy_. Iggy heard him. That was for damn sure.

Iggy already knew this was what was bothering him. Everyone knew it, even Max. She was at the same place he was, but she was much more comfortable admitting it than he was. She was in no hurry to say it to him, in no hurry to admit that the love she shared with her best friend had died . . . but it had.

Iggy cleared his throat and leaned forward, his ice blue eyes tight when he looked in the direction of Fang. "When you feel more in love with memories than the person you're with."

Fang's heart clenched tight. He didn't have to think about that response because he already knew. That was exactly how it was. For the past month, he had only kept quiet _because _of memories. Because every time he thought back on life, he realized that everything good that had happened to him happened with Max by his side.

Yet that was the past, all memories. In the present, things weren't so good. They fought constantly, and lately, Max had become distant. He was the one who never talked much, just listened, but every time they were in the same room as of late, the silence murdered him.

It was over . . . .

Fang couldn't accept that. He stood from the chair and marched right into Max's room. Really, he didn't have much of a plan, but he had to know.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her with an unbridled passion. She hadn't realized he was there until his lips met hers, and even though it broke her heart, she accepted it and met his vehemence. Both felt so many things for each other, good and bad, and everything came out.

But it wasn't enough. Passion, love, anger, fear . . . a wild fusion of emotions they both felt, none of that was enough.

The passion was more like desperation—they _wanted _to make things work.

The love was more of a memory—the past had been magical.

The anger was more like misery—this killed both of them to see that it was over.

The fear was just that—they had lived their entire lives side by side.

Max hated crying, but when Fang pulled away . . . she caught a glimpse of the tears on the edge of his eyes, ready to fall. She knew it was over; of course she had known. Deep down, she knew it was entirely her fault. She had changed. He had changed.

She messed up.

Fang hated to see Max cry, and he felt entirely too guilty. Why couldn't this work? She seemed just as desperate to make it work as he was . . . .

But she wasn't.

Max wiped the tears off her cheeks and purposely looked down at her feet. How could she tell him? Tell him of her ultimate betrayal? She hated herself for it, but it was uncontrollable. Unstoppable. Max knew she and Fang just weren't meant to be.

But that didn't make what she did right. She knew that, and she knew she didn't deserve him. He deserved someone to love him fully, to love him so much that they never did anything to hurt him.

Someone who wasn't her.

"Fang, I'm pregnant."

* * *

_Okay, so, before you get angry with me, let me just promise you. I am beyond happy that Max and Fang ended up together in the actual book series (though I didn't actually read past Max due to the fact it felt like James Patterson was just putting books out). Nevertheless, I got this idea when listening to the song _Never Gonna Change _by the Broods, and what started out as a one-shot idea has turned into an idea for an entire story._

_I love Fax. Really, I do, but when I'm writing, I sometimes like to make non Fax stories. Fang/OC. So, I do apologize if you can't read anything but Fax. Really, I'm not sure why you're here if that's the case because I did kinda warn you in the description._

_Anyways...enough ranting. Mostly, I just want to say, I really hope you guys enjoy this story! I hated writing such a sad prologue, but in the end, I like how it turned out, I think._

_I'm ranting again. But, I want you guys to enjoy this story. Really, I do. Let me know what you think in a review? It'd be greatly appreciated. :)_


	2. 01: The Afternoon Morning

"I never thought I'd doubt you.  
I'm better off without you  
More than you, more than you know.  
I'm slowly getting closure.  
I guess it's really over.  
I'm finally getting better."—_Over You,_ Daughtry

* * *

***Eighteen Months Later***

There he laid in the darkness of his room, dreaming. The sun tried forcing its way in through the rather large windows, but his thick black curtains didn't allow it entry. He wanted to sleep until the sun was gone from the sky. What reason did he have to get up?

For that matter, what reason did he _ever _have to get up? Or live.

It wasn't like he thought about killing himself. The thought alone made him feel weak and stupid because his life wasn't bad, not anymore. Even when it was, he never had the idea to end it early. He had been near death, and it scared him shitless.

There was a loud, excited knock on the outside of his door, so frantic Fang didn't even have to ask who was there. If anyone woke him up, and there were only three people who would, only one of those three would do it like that.

Fang didn't open his eyes. Actually, he squeezed them shut and let a breath out through his nose. Every part of his body ached, and he hoped with every fiber of his being that Nudge would just go away.

"I know you can hear me," she said, and a giggle slipped through her pursed lips. "Psychic, remember? Anyways, come on, Fang! You've gotta get up! It's not gonna be long before Ella gets out of school."

Of course. How could he forget Nudge's new ability that seemed to come out of nowhere? It would've been beyond handy when saving the world from the company that made them, but instead, it came after everything was all settled.

It didn't make any sense.

Fang groaned before he could think to stop himself, and Nudge smiled. Even though she knew he was awake enough to hear her, she loved being right.

Fang rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Tell me again why Ella getting out of school matters to me?"

"Because my soon to be BFF is coming today!" she squealed.

He hadn't forgotten that; Nudge didn't let anyone forget that. She, at random moments throughout the day, would squeal and start dancing around, out of nowhere, because it wouldn't be long before she met the girl that was gonna be her best friend one day.

Everyone tried to calm her down, insist that her acting crazy like she was would only delay the process, but Nudge somehow knew differently. And heaven knows Nudge didn't know what the words "calm down" actually meant.

"And that means I should get out of bed because . . . ?"

"Well . . . ."

This wasn't the first time she made Fang wonder. On many occasions, she made sure to remind Fang specifically about her new best friend that would be coming over soon. Friday. So insistent on making sure _Fang _remembered, but not everyone else. When he called her out on it, she shrugged and said, "You've been scatter brained lately. Just wanna make sure you don't forget."

Fang hadn't been scatter brained, and he would remember just like everyone else because she would bring it up at least six times a day, usually in the form of telling Ella how jealous she was that she was already friends with her best friend.

This girl had made Nudge go off the deep end, so maybe that was the explanation to the madness. Nudge was just crazy.

"I want her to meet all my family," Nudge finally decided, after taking longer than it should've taken to come up with an answer. Truth was, that _wasn't _why Nudge wanted Fang up and ready when her future best friend got here, but Nudge decided that it was better if he didn't know why.

Better if no one knew why.

Fang fell out of bed and hit the floor with a loud thud. In his head, he put every curse word he knew to Nudge's name, and a few came out in almost silent grumbles. Nudge didn't hear, but Fang didn't really care if she did or not.

"Great, you're up!" she exclaimed, and she shoved open the door without warning. The light from the hallway burned Fang's eyes, and Nudge only made it worse when she flipped the light switch on.

Fang's teeth clenched, and it took all of his willpower to keep quiet. He wanted to yell at Nudge, tell her to get out, but instead, he pulled the covers over his head and bit his tongue.

Nudge frowned at the dark pile in the floor. "Come on, Fang. You've gotta get up and shower. It's almost two thirty."

"Nudge, for the last time, I'm not getting my haircut today," he muttered. "I'm not dressing up. All I'm gonna do is sit in my fucking room. She's not even gonna see me unless she stays for dinner."

Nudge didn't like this answer. "You stink, Fang."

Fang knew he was gonna shower. Not for Nudge's friend, but for Nudge. It was the reason he had gotten a haircut the night before and the reason he had something a little less sloppy picked out to wear. This meant a lot to Nudge, and even if he liked to pretend he didn't care, he didn't wanna let his little sister down, ruin the thing she's waited so long for.

"Go away."

Nudge didn't know about the haircut, didn't know what was going through Fang's mind. All she knew was sadness and anger. Why couldn't he just _shower _for her? It wasn't like he didn't do it every day anyways. Was he doing it to spite her? That was how it seemed to her.

"Fine," she muttered. "Have fun all by yourself for the rest of your life."

Nudge knew how upset that would make Fang, but when she said it, she didn't really care much. He had hurt her, too, over something so stupid and spiteful. A simple shower was all it took, but no. He couldn't do that for her.

Fang didn't say anything after Nudge slammed the door shut, mostly because he was in shock. _Nudge _had said that to him, one of the two people in the world who knew that was one of his greatest fears.

He knew she was angry at him, so he tried to brush it off as he stood to his feet and allowed his eyes to adjust to the extreme change in light.

When arriving in the bathroom, the sight of himself in the mirror almost made him smile. Nudge had been so specific when asking him to get his haircut, so specific she handed him a picture and everything, and he had their stylist get it the best she could.

She had done pretty damn good, but after sleeping on it for over fourteen hours, it didn't look like it had the night before.

Fang got a quick but relaxing hot shower, brushed his teeth, and spent the rest of his allotted thirty minutes trying to get the style just right. Ella had gotten him some Axe styling cream a while back, and he never used it. With his shaggy haircut from before, it wouldn't have made much difference.

This haircut was different—spiky, edgy, able to stand up in a way that Ella called "women's bane." I thought she was crazy, but it was worth a shot anyways.

He worried it would harden his hair, but after he rubbed it all through the front, he couldn't even tell it was in there. It worked how he wanted it to, though. Maybe not in a way that would have women chasing after him, like the commercials got some people to actually believe, but maybe Nudge would be happy.

Sliding into the dark jeans he _despised _was a challenge. They weren't skinny jeans, but they were tighter than the jeans he normally wore. Still, the girls all insisted they looked best on him, those jeans with a tight shirt that Fang was always uncomfortable in . . . .

Those jeans and a Panic! At the Disco shirt would have to suffice. He was more than willing to make sacrifices for family, but the tight shirt was pushing it for the day, especially considering what Nudge had said half an hour earlier.

Fang wasn't one to hold grudges, so as he stepped out of his room, he didn't even have it on his mind. Well . . . he _did_, but not necessarily that Nudge said it.

But what if she was right? What if he _was _alone for the rest of his life? He would be the only one, too, because everyone else either had someone or would.

Gazzy liked to say he would get some gorgeous supermodel with a big mouth. After Max went on a rant about how sexist he was, Fang realized that he didn't want a supermodel. Hell, the girl didn't even have to be beautiful on the outside. He just wanted someone beautiful on the inside, someone who would never hurt him.

He just didn't think he could handle that again.

When he walked into the living room, where everyone was gathered in an attempt to calm Nudge down, they all got really quiet. Nudge calmed down, aside from the tears that fell down her face, and everyone but Dylan seemed to be in a state of shock.

Fang's eyes widened a little as he looked at their staring faces, but he tried to ignore them as he walked past the high chair where Dylan was feeding little Henry.

Henry . . . Fang could never decide how he felt about the little guy. Usually, he didn't like kids, but Henry was different most days. Then, some days, when Fang remembered why Henry existed . . . it wasn't like he hated him those days, but he couldn't stand to look at him. Because Henry existed because Max cheated on him. With Dylan.

Most days, however, Fang was able to forget because Henry was adorable. Fang hated that word, hated using it next to a _baby's _name, but that's what Henry was. Whenever Fang walked in the room, he got this huge grin like he didn't with everyone. Sometimes, Dylan couldn't even get him to smile, but Fang always could. All Fang had to do was come into the room, really.

In his head, Fang liked to believe it was payback. Dylan couldn't make his own kid smile, but Fang could.

Fang ruffled Henry's full head of curly blonde locks, and Henry fell into a fit of giggles. The peas Dylan was feeding him came back out and got all over Dylan's face, and as Fang opened the refrigerator to grab a quick bite to eat, a huge smile spread across his lips.

_Ha, bastard_, he thought.

Nudge walked over and wrapped her arms around Fang. "I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't," Fang said, and he did his best to slide out of her embrace on his way to the microwave. Ravioli sounded pretty good.

Nudge frowned. "You're gonna find someone, but I hope she doesn't like hugs."

Fang smirked. "Don't really care if she does or not. She's not gonna get 'em much."

"You're horrible," Max informed him, but she laughed it off.

Most of the people in the room knew the awkwardness of her statement, but Fang was the only one who got mad and upset about it. His grip on the can tightened, and his jaw locked. Instead of saying anything, or moving at all, he kept his eyes focused straight in front of himself.

_No, Max. _You're _horrible._

Saying it in his head helped, and it allowed him to calm down enough that he could wipe his face of all emotion and heat up his ravioli.

Iggy watched him from the back of the room, watched as he took the bowl straight from the microwave, grabbed a fork, and disappeared back into his room. He waited for the door to close . . . but it didn't. Fang turned on his music, started eating his ravioli, but he left his door open.

Iggy knew he had to talk to Fang. His idea was the best thing in the world for him, and even though it would cause a lot of drama and problems . . . it was exactly what Fang needed.

Somewhere else to go.

* * *

_I really wasn't expecting to get a review tonight, but since I did, well, here's the next chapter. :D_

_So, I'm aware that Max wouldn't really cheat on Fang. Really, I am. But, I mean, it's a story. I promise more goes into her thoughts behind it and why it happened and such later, but for now, Fang doesn't know anything. All he knows is that she had Dylan's kid._

_I promise things don't stay depressing for long. I used to be really bad about getting the characters together far too soon, but I still don't enjoy making sad chapters. There will be some, and it's not all gonna be sunshine and roses, but it's also not gonna be so damn depressing the whole time. o.o_

_Well...I'm rambling. Sorry. x3 I have tendencies to do that. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter (as much as you can enjoy sad chapters) and let me know what you think. :)_


	3. 02: Fresh Start

"It's time to begin.  
Isn't it?  
I get a little bit bigger,  
But then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was.  
Why don't you understand that I'm never changing who I am?"—_It's Time_, Imagine Dragons

* * *

***Averly***

_"How could you do this to me?"_

I didn't hurt like I used to when I thought about her reaction to the news. Heather and I were a friendship on the rocks as of late, and it killed me back then. We had both changed since the beginning of grade school, and when we dated for that brief time . . . it changed everything.

So when I got the news that my family and I were moving, not just to a new town but a new state, I wasn't upset. Upset was what my parents expected from me, but I wasn't. As a matter of fact, the idea of being able to start fresh somewhere, make new friends, meet new people who didn't judge me for my past they weren't even sure about . . . it was the reason I told Heather about moving with a smile on my face.

She took that as an offensive gesture, and we didn't part on good terms because of it. It was what I wanted for us, a clean break, but she clearly had no intentions of breaking anything cleanly.

It's never that simple, though, is it? You have someone who you share so many wonderful memories with, and when those memories become the best part about your time with them . . . you know you have to let go. But those memories were the best, some of the highlights of your life.

How can you let go of that?

The answer was simple, but it wasn't easy to do. You just cut ties and let the memories bring a smile to your face later on in life, when the emotions of the break had settled.

For me, the emotions had settled long before I left, settled deep in the depths of my heart. She had become my only friend after everything that happened, and then she ditched me. I didn't really have anyone to talk to after that, so I just let it settle.

The emotions seemed to go away. I mean, after a few months, I was able to carry on and keep breathing, but maybe they hadn't. Things hadn't really gotten much better, like I had hoped they would. Sure, I made new friends, and no one really knew my secret here, but I didn't enjoy being alive.

Here I was, only two weeks away from being eighteen years old . . . and I was miserable. I had no idea where my life was going, no idea what I wanted to do with myself. All I knew was that somehow, I had to get up every day, go to school, and continue living life as if I actually mattered.

Reality was, in this massive world, I was insignificant.

"Averly Grace Aberdeen, if you bail on me, I'll kill you!"

I cringed at the sound of the overly high pitched Kimberley Winters, the girl I had, unfortunately, become friends with. She seemed really nice when we first met, but as the days drug on, I realized she was actually quite the scrubber.

It's hard to part ways with someone who controlled pretty much everyone in the school. If she didn't like you, you were pretty much doomed. Sure, she couldn't ruin your future outside of this town, but while you were still living in Jerome, Arizona, you better believe she was gonna make it rough on you.

"Kim, look, I _really _wanna go shopping with you, but I can't today," I insisted, though it was a massive lie. "When you asked me Monday, I told you it would depend on school."

She glared at me. "We're seniors! There isn't much school for us to do!"

The presence beside me, my escape from Kimberley, scoffed. "Uh huh. Says the girl in all the stupid classes barely scraping by. We've got an honors chem project we've gotta start working on, so if you wanna continue failing school, you go right ahead and go shopping. I, however, am not and refuse to start now, and I don't think Averly wants to either."

I looked over at the sassy and angry Ella Martinez with a coy smile. "You ready to go?"

Kimberley and Ella didn't get along, and I knew why. Ella had a strict no bullshit policy, and that's what Kimberley was full of. If she wasn't spouting bullshit about something crazy she did with someone no one in the school knew existed, she was going on and on about how wonderful she is . . . or what scandalous thing someone else did.

It was too much drama and madness for me, but I didn't know how to safely get away from her. So, with only a semester and a half left of high school, I knew I could probably just hold my tongue and fake a smile.

Ella enjoyed the way Kimberley stormed out the doors, and she felt quite proud of herself. She loved to push Kimberley's buttons because the truth was, no one did that for the same reasons I didn't.

It just didn't seem worth it.

Ella and Kimberley had never gotten along, _never_. When Kimberley stole Ella's boyfriend in ninth grade, it was Ella's breaking point. She was done standing back and taking all the shit Kimberley dished out, so she began fighting her back.

I hadn't lived here long, only a few months, but those few months were plenty for me to realize that Ella was one of the best people in this school. Admittedly, that wasn't hard considering the K-12 school had only a few more than a hundred students attending, but it didn't matter. She was one of the genuine people I had met here, so we were instant friends.

It also helped that she was the first one to show me around—the only one to offer.

Aside from Ella and the overly popular Kimberley, I was pretty much invisible, and I was determined to turn that around. Somehow. I wasn't sure how yet, and any time I asked Ella, she insisted that being invisible was better. I could tell it was a touchy subject for her, but she didn't wanna talk about it yet. I respected that and left it alone because I had a past I wasn't ready to talk about either.

I didn't know if I would ever be ready to talk about it.

* * *

I was surprised at the size of Ella's house. It was massive, but on the outside, it didn't look like a house that would be so big. There was more of a simple home look to it that was captivating, aside from the fact it was probably at least three stories.

Ella gave me a sheepish smile. "I have a rather large family. And no. There aren't thirty different people living here that I'm related to. Just my mom, nephew, and sister. Well, half-sister. She's like a full sister, though. Does the half-blood thing even make a difference?"

I shook my head. "Sometimes your sisters don't haveta share blood with you at all."

Ella seemed to like this idea. Her smile brightened, and she looked optimistic when getting out of the car. When I hopped out, I was still just staring at her place. The house was my dream home. Charcoal walls, dark shingled roof, black shutters, and ice blue doors . . . it was all too familiar.

As I took my first step, a warm Arizona wind hit my cold skin and pulled a smile across my lips. The beauty of Arizona . . . warmth pretty much all the time. I loved that, and I was more than happy to embrace it with a smile.

Sometimes, I stood in the sun and danced. Because I could.

I forgot about the fact that the house was something I had seen before in my dreams and spun in a slow circle. The wind picked up, carrying my loose ponytail with it. It tugged the band right out, and my hair started to dance freely.

I didn't mind. Just closed my eyes, took a deep breath of the hot air, and turned to head inside after Ella.

All peace was gone when I laid eyes on the house again, however. The walk towards the door was even more unsettling. The curved sidewalk was lined with bright pink rose bushes, just like in the dream, and there was white railing around the small porch. While I looked around myself in wonder, Ella giggled.

"I know. It's gorgeous," she agreed.

"Familiar," I murmured under my breath, but I knew she didn't have a hope of hearing me. So I didn't sweat it and followed her through the marvelous front door.

"The entrance room," she said, and she shed her shoes to put in the coat closet right beside her. "We'll probably work in my room. I hate working in there, but with my family, it's the only place we'll get any sort of quiet."

"That's not true," I heard a girl protest, and she wore a huge smile on her face as she joined us by the coat closet. Her black curly hair wore a pink headband in an attempt to tame it, but she didn't seem to care too much. There was genuine happiness in her chocolate eyes. "Is this your new friend, Averly?"

Ella rolled her eyes at the girl but smiled as my eyebrows rose in surprise. "Don't think too much into it. Nudge is a psychic, and she already knew you were coming over today. She made sure everyone knew you were coming over today."

Nudge and Ella both looked shocked at how well I digested this information, but really, I didn't think anything would surprise me anymore. If some of the things I had seen . . . if that was real . . . who's to say psychics weren't?

Either way, Nudge loved how easily I took this and smirked. "I also know we're gonna be the best of friends, so let me warn you in advance. I don't have a mute button, or a pause button. I'm gonna ramble sometimes, but I've gotten better. There are still sometimes, though, that I just can't seem to stop talking and let other people get a word in. It's not like I'm in love with myself or anything. Believe me, I'm not. I just can't help myself sometimes . . . like right now, apparently." She laughed and shook her head. "Look, I know you're not normal either. Haven't seen why yet, but you fit in better here than anywhere else. So I don't see a point in pretending to be normal when, clearly, we aren't. I mean, we don't go to school."

"You're homeschooled, Nudge," Ella reminded her. "That's what everyone thinks."

She shrugged. "The rest of my statement stands." And she looked over at me, waiting for my response, my answer.

Nudge wanted to know what made me outside of the word "normal."

Ella rolled her eyes. "You don't have to talk about anything, Averly. We're here to work on a school project, Nudge. If it'll get you to leave us alone for a bit, I'll let you give her a tour of the place while I get everything ready to work."

And as Ella left the room, yet another person came in. This was a guy, really tall and muscular. He had spiked up strawberry blonde hair with pale blue eyes.

When he saw me, he got a coy smile. "Averly, right?"

"Yep, that would be me," I agreed, and I laughed a little.

Nudge frowned at him. "Iggy! Your girlfriend isn't being fair. She's my best friend! Or . . . she's gonna be. She won't let me talk to her!"

"I'd say letting you get a tour of the house first is a bit fair," the guy—Iggy—pointed out, and Nudge pouted at him. "Don't even try pouting. I'm not putting my neck out for you, not after you ratted me and Gazzy out last night to Momma Bird."

Nudge giggled but immediately bit her lip to try and contain it. "You might wanna lower your voice when you call her that. She still doesn't like it."

"And I still don't care," he said, and he smirked over at me. "Welcome to the family, Averly. It's a crazy ride, but once you get to know us all, you'll . . . immediately wanna run for the hills. But, of course, you'll always come back . . . like a masochistic psycho."

I laughed again and nodded. "I'm not sure about the masochistic part, but I'm definitely a psycho, so I believe that."

Iggy smiled. "I like you."

"You seem alright," I decided, and when he playfully pretended that hurt his feelings, Nudge just grabbed my hand and started pulling me along behind her. "I'll talk to ya later, I guess!"

He laughed. "Sure thing. I mean, I'm kinda banging your best friend."

"Iggy! I swear! If you don't stop making that a public announcement, I'm gonna kill you!"

Nudge busted into fits of maniacal giggles, and it was infectious—not to mention, imagining Ella beating up _Iggy_ . . . it was hilarious. Not that I wanted to see Iggy get his ass kicked, but imagining Ella hurting anyone was bound to be a laugh.

Nudge calmed herself down faster than I could, but I quickly reined in the laughter and waited with a smile for her to catch her breath so she could talk. "We can take our time on this tour, but let's go ahead and get started."

I had to admit, I didn't have one doubt about Nudge and I being friends. I didn't have one doubt about anything Iggy said either.

These people just seemed easy to get along with and a lot of fun . . . something my life desperately needed more of.

_Here's where the real fresh start begins, Av. Embrace it._

* * *

_You guys are awesome. :)  
_

_I was gonna wait to post more until I had another chapter written (another chapter after this one) but your responses have been so quick and encouraging that I thought, what the heck? Might as well post more. :)_

_Hope you guys enjoy! I'm trying to cut back on the ranting. x3_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Maximum Ride series or any of its characters. I own Averly, however. And the other assortment of random people who weren't in the series. x3_

_So read, review, and most importantly, enjoy. :D_


	4. 03: That First Glance

"We were both young when I first saw you.  
I close my eyes, and the flashback starts.  
I'm standing there."—_Love Story, _Taylor Swift

* * *

I met some more people in the living room. One was a _beautiful _blonde haired girl with the most adorable baby boy named Henry. He was such a cute baby, and he wasn't even a year old.

Max's boyfriend, Dylan, seemed surprised at how well Henry responded to me. He got this huge smile when I walked in the room, and his eyes never left me. I wasn't a huge fan of babies, but this one was adorable. And he loved me.

Max said new people usually scared him to the point he threw fits and screamed until he adjusted, but not me. With me, the only fit he threw was a fit of laughter when I tripped over the coffee table and nearly fell on top of him—or would have if I didn't have super-fast reflexes.

Dylan was pretty cool, too, or nice anyways.

After spending a bit of time with Henry, Ella warned Nudge that we were starting in ten minutes, tour finished or not, so Nudge had to pull me away from the angel and on to the rest of the house.

It was weird to me when we walked upstairs and into another living room. Nudge said it was the date room. With the color scheme and furniture choice, I could easily see how it was a date living room. Even with the lights on, the deep maroon walls set a tone that was more intimate than the other rooms.

And she showed me which rooms were whose. When passing one room, belonging to someone she called "Fang," my heart nearly jolted at what I heard.

A song began to play, and it immediately got into vocals that captivated me. It wasn't just the vocalist's voice, though that was pretty damn incredible in its own right. The lyrics themselves were immediately something that sucked me in.

"I had a plan, and it made God laugh. It didn't work, should've checked the math. I hit the wall cause I live too fast. I didn't know it could hurt that bad. I clung to hope when there was none. I should've known that was so dumb."

And from there, I was hooked.

* * *

Fang watched as the girl stood in the doorway, not really seeing anything. Her unique and bright purple eyes glazed over, and her head tilted to the side while she ignored the world and let her mind get lost in the music. It wasn't the first time Fang had heard this song play on his Pandora station, but he remembered his reaction the first time being very similar.

She was utterly captivated in a beautiful way that made his insides twist up into knots. He hadn't seen such pure curiosity and beauty in all of his life, especially from one of Ella's friends.

And he had to know her name. When Nudge had rambled on about her coming over, he hadn't really fully listened to all the details . . . or even most of them. He didn't catch what Nudge said her name was.

But he didn't dare stop the song to ask her. Instead, he smiled at the girl—a smile she missed entirely—and waited. Listened to the same lyrics she was lost in. Let his heart soar away to the same place hers was.

In that moment, their hearts felt as one, and neither had any idea.

It was over before Fang even realized it was close, and her cheeks immediately flushed with a deep red that colored the soft olive face she had. She couldn't look at Fang right now out of sheer embarrassment, but his smile didn't leave.

Neither said a word yet. She was embarrassed, and Fang was still . . . dazzled. It was a stupid word Nudge used the other day when talking about how she felt when she saw this boy that moved in down the street, but it made sense. It seemed appropriate for the situation.

This beautiful girl realized Fang wasn't mocking her. She realized that there wasn't a reason to be embarrassed, so she very shyly looked up to him. Her face wasn't burning anymore, but the blush lingered. And as she looked at him, his smile was infectious.

Neither noticed when Nudge came into Fang's room, mouth open to explain to Averly who Fang was. But she saw immediately that she didn't have to do that. The vision she had that no one knew about, the vision she didn't wanna spoil . . . it was beginning.

She closed her mouth and disappeared right back out the door before either even noticed she was there.

Fang had no chance of noticing. He was too wrapped up in the angel in his doorway.

* * *

I didn't know why I stopped inside his room. Standing out in the hall would've been just as effective, though more creepy than being in his room.

The overly attractive guy didn't seem to mind, however. His dark onyx eyes shone with a light I hadn't seen in, well, ever. At least not when someone looked at me.

While I was captivated, he seemed to remember where we were. He smiled at me and cleared his throat, and his eyes shifted over to his stereo. "If you wanna look it up later, the song's _There's No Going Back _by Sick Puppies."

I felt strange on the inside but immediately sent myself a text as a reminder. That song . . . man, I couldn't forget it. Sometimes, there are just those songs that pretty much outline the things you're going through, or it's exactly what you need to hear.

That's what that song was for me—exactly what I needed to hear.

"_There's no going back when life's a loaded gun. You pull the trigger. There's no going back. The past is in the past. Thank God it doesn't last forever."_

I nodded and swallowed visibly. "Uh, thanks. Sorry for stoppin' like a creeper. I just . . . never heard that song before."

A breath of a laugh passed through his lips, and he shook his head. "Not a problem. I'm guessing you're the girl Nudge has been excited about for a while?"

"I'm Averly," I told him, and after the words slipped through my lips, I bit down hard on my bottom one. Something about this guy . . . it made me nervous and unsure of myself.

I saw a somewhat familiar sparkle in his eyes when hearing my unusual name, but it was a bit more intense. Well, maybe it wasn't really and I just imagined it, but to me, it seemed more intense.

Then again, it was probably just wishful thinking.

A half smile came to the right side of his lips, and his mysteriously dark onyx eyes brightened. The color inside didn't change, but something that resembled joy flashed across them like a shooting star in the blackest of nights.

"I'm Fang," he said. "Averly . . . that's different, but it's kinda a mouthful. Is it okay if I call you Avvy?"

It took me a second to respond, probably longer than it should have. Fang didn't notice, though. Only smiled and waited for my response.

I nodded and gave him a timid smile. "Uh, yeah. No one's ever called me that before. It's usually just Averly or Av."

His half smile grew into a full smile, a smile that got my heart racing so quickly that I wasn't able to see right for a few seconds. "So I guess that makes me special."

I had to swallow to have any chance of talking to him again, but it ended up not mattering at all. Before I could find words and think of an appropriate response that _didn't _show him how much of an idiot I was, Ella walked into the room.

"Hey, Av, you ready to get started?"

"Yeah," I said, but my eyes didn't move away from Fang. "Uh, it was nice meetin' ya, Fang."

He wasn't looking at me now, but instead, his eyes were on Ella. As he watched her, his arm reached back to rub the back of his neck while a whisper of a smile fell upon his lips.

When I started to turn and leave, his eyes darted back to me, and that damned half smile pulled across the right side of his mouth. "You, too, Avvy."

It was all I could do to walk away. Something about him was . . . fascinating. Endlessly fascinating. I didn't wanna walk away until I knew more about him, knew for a fact that I would get to see him again.

When I was away from him, however, reality slapped me in the face. Man, I was a mess. At the sight of the most attractive male in the world, everything inside of me twisted and got all out of whack. I acted like a complete idiot.

But _why_? Pretty boys were the worst more times than not, and it was the last thing I needed right now.

Really, a boyfriend was the last thing I needed right now, but especially not a pretty boy boyfriend. My heart was too fragile to handle that drama right now.

* * *

_I'm trying really hard to keep this in character. x3 And despite how it may seem, Fang and Averly don't immediately jump into a relationship. Promise. They're not gonna get together in two chapters or anything like that._

_I used to be so bad about that. I used to put the people together by chapter seven (that was actually the usual chapter where they ended up together in some way) but not this time._

_Hope you guys enjoy! :) Thanks for reading my story and reviewing! If you don't enjoy this anymore, I totally understand. I knew writing a Fang/OC fic wouldn't necessarily be a popular story, which is fine. I can dig it. It's also the story I wanted to write, and I figured if there were others out there like me, who just wanna see something different, they might enjoy this. If not, that's fine. Thanks for giving it a shot. :)_

_Anyways, review and let me know what you think! :)_


	5. 04: Chemistry

"You make me feel out of my element,  
Like I'm walking on broken glass."—_Chemicals React_, Aly & AJ

* * *

Ella and I finished much faster than we imagined. I knew she was smart, but I don't think she was expecting me to know as much as I did. What she mapped out to take at least three days, we finished in three hours.

By supper time, we weren't talking about chemistry. Well, in a way we were, but not the chemistry we studied in school.

"Oh my fucking goodness, you didn't see that?" she squeaked. "Come on, Averly. Why the hell did he call you 'Avvy?'"

"He says Averly is a mouthful," I insisted. "Come on, El. Let's not get too excited."

She made a face. "I love Fang. I want him to move on from what happened, but I don't know if we can have girl talk if you're dating my brother. Still, you'd probably be just what he needs."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What happened to him?"

I think she forgot that this was my first time to meet her family. While I knew their biggest secret, I didn't know everything about any of them, Fang especially. He was the one I wanted to know more about, even though my head kept telling me that I didn't.

Ella's mood shifted as her lips quirked to the side. "I think . . . he should tell you."

This made me kinda sad. If it was bad enough that Ella couldn't tell me about it, someone who had literally just met him, that meant it was personal. It was painful.

I think Ella noticed my sadness because she cleared her throat and kept her eyes anywhere except on me. As a matter of fact, she got up from the bed and left the room, leaving me alone in her room.

Not for long, though. Almost as quickly as she left, Fang came walking in.

His eyes lit up when they landed on me, and the full smile came across his lips this time. "Where's Ella?"

I shrugged. "No clue. She just left."

"Well, I don't know if you eat food, but Iggy's an insanely good cook, and food's ready," he said, and that smile turned into a smirk.

My eyebrows rose as I let out a breath of a laugh. "Why wouldn't I eat food? Pretty sure you need food to live."

"Well, Nudge says you fit in here," he said. "I didn't know if that meant you were, like, a vampire or something."

"Wow, very creative," I sarcastically commended.

He just continued to smirk, and once again, something started to sparkle in his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

A short silence fell over us, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. Comfortable wasn't the right word, and it wasn't painful.

As those onyx eyes watched me, a wave of electricity surged through and painlessly burned every part of my body. I couldn't really explain it, but it got my heart beating irregularly as my lungs seemed to lose the ability to function properly.

This wasn't right. Man was this not right . . . yet I enjoyed this feeling. A friend wouldn't be so bad, right? A very attractive friend who made my insides act strange could be a good thing. He didn't seem like your typical pretty boy, but did they ever?

_Stop, Averly. Don't just a book by its attractive cover._

I pressed my lips together while his eyes focused in on mine. "What was the name of that song again?"

"_There's No Going Back _by the Sick Puppies," he said. "I could text it to you if you wanted."

I shook my head and gave him a tiny smile. "Thanks, but I think I'll remember it."

"You sure?" he asked. "I don't mind. It's not hard to do. Six words?"

"I'm sure," I said, and my smile widened. "Thank you, though. Anyways, I'll see ya around. If Nudge and I are gonna be best friends, I'll probably be around more often.'

"Good," he said, but the moment the word left his lips, I think he realized he said it out-loud. By the way his eyes widened, I'd say he didn't actually mean to say it. "I, uh . . . you're the only friend Nudge has ever had that I haven't wanted to literally stab myself in the ear drums so I wouldn't have to listen to them talk. You seem at least relatively normal so far."

"Well, you don't know me," I reminded him.

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but normal's boring anyways."

"Indeed it is."

I felt someone grab my hand before I actually realized it was happening. It wasn't that I couldn't hear someone approaching, no matter how silent they thought they were, but I was so distracted with Fang that I actually didn't realize.

Nudge flashed me an all knowing smile. "Come on! You can sit by me."

"Nudge, you're gonna freak her out, ya know," Fang informed her. "Just because you saw each other as best friends doesn't mean you are yet."

"On the contrary, I find how quickly our lifelong friendship grew to be rather awesome," I said, and I wrapped one arm around her shoulder as I flashed her a small smile. "So, best friend. What are you doin' this weekend? Like, tomorrow."

She actually let out a squeal, and to be totally honest with you, I couldn't believe the words had come out of my mouth either. I wasn't exactly an outgoing person, and I certainly didn't trust easily.

Here I was, though . . . talking to these people as if I had known them for years.

Fang made me nervous, and it felt as if he unleashed a zoo in my stomach, but overall, he was just as easy to talk to as the rest of them.

What was it about them?

"Well, I planned on shopping with Ella," she said. "Of course, you can definitely come, too. What do you say?"

Shopping: I was never quite sure how I felt about it. On one hand, I enjoyed shopping when I got to try on lots of dresses and outfits, imagining that I bought them all and wore them at different occasions I usually ended up not going to, but on the other hand, if it wasn't with someone who I enjoyed shopping with—my mom, for example? She had this idea that I was still seven and loved everything she picked out—it was always a nightmare.

I had a feeling tomorrow would be fun, though.

So, as a smile spread across my lips, Nudge knew my answer before I even said it. Or maybe she already knew my answer but was just asking to be polite. I don't really know. Either way, my response wasn't even necessary.

"That sounds like a lotta fun."

* * *

_Hope you guys are still enjoying this series! I was actually stuck on this chapter for the longest time, but after I posted this story here, I suddenly found inspiration to finish. :D_

_Let me know what you guys think. :)_


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